The Pastor As Scholar & The Scholar As Pastor – John Piper & D. A. Carson

This short little book greatly increased my love being scholarly as a pastor. Perhaps it is because I am already bent that way but this book solidified my desire to deeply seek the truth. Piper writes as a pastor with a scholars’ heart, having been in the world of academia before entering the pastorate. Carson writes as a scholar with a pastoral heart, and as a reluctant member of academia, having been a pastor first. Both men faithfully show that one does not have to choose between being a pastor or a scholar. You can be both while pursuing either role primarily. This is a move backwards in our faith, and one that is needed. There was a time when local pastors were seen as the greatest theologians in the world. For some reason our current culture has divorced the two, and removed the hard work of theology from the church and placed it in the ivory towers of scholarly achievement. As men like Piper and Carson continue to lead and train new generations to follow in their footsteps we will see this trend start to change and right itself.